A miraculous comeback was completed with just seconds remaining in the Fraser Valley championship match, sending the Aldergrove Totems to the gold medal.
The senior boys soccer team erased a 2-0 first-half deficit to defeat the Archbishop Carney Stars — the defending Fraser Valley champs and last year’s provincial finalist — in the Fraser Valley AA final. The Fraser Valley soccer title is the first for the school.
The game was played Nov. 7 at Aldergrove Community Secondary School.
With his team trailing 2-0, Ryan Witowich got the comeback going, scoring off a goalmouth scramble with 10 minutes to go before the half.
And that goal spurred on the Totems in the second half as they got stronger as the game wore on. With 20 minutes remaining, another goalmouth scramble resulted in the tying goal and for the rest of the game, the Totems dominated play.
With 15 seconds remaining before stoppage time, Aldergrove was awarded a corner kick and the team’s two captains, Joel Waterman perfectly placed the ball to the back post where Gurmaan Jahj headed the ball into the net.
The Totems managed to hang on during the two minutes of stoppage time.
Both Aldergrove and Archbishop Carney advanced to the B.C. provincial championships, which begin Nov. 18.
They are being held at Burnaby Lakes and wrap up Nov. 20.
